מוֹקֵשׁ
mo.qesh
snare
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe Hebrew lemma מוֹקֵשׁ (mo.qesh) has a concise definition: "snare." This implies a device intended to trap or ensnare prey, typically for the purpose of capture or destruction. As a word with 27 occurrences in the Bible, it clearly has significance across various contexts. Its usage in the Bible indicates that מוֹקֵשׁ can be applied metaphorically to more abstract concepts, such as a trap for thoughts or emotions, suggesting that the concept of entrapment can be applied beyond physical situations. This flexibility in usage underscores the word's relevance to various themes in the biblical narrative, including deception, temptation, and the consequences of sin. As a recurring concept, its presence helps to convey the idea of being caught off guard or falling into a hidden danger.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
27 total occurrences across the text
that the godless man may not reign, that there be no one to ensnare the people.
Job 40:24Shall any take him when he is on the watch, or pierce through his nose with a snare?
Psalms 18:5The cords of Sheol were around me. The snares of death came on me.
Psalms 64:5They encourage themselves in evil plans. They talk about laying snares secretly. They say, “Who will see them?”
Psalms 69:22Let their table before them become a snare. May it become a retribution and a trap.
Psalms 106:36They served their idols, which became a snare to them.
Psalms 140:5The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me.
Psalms 141:9Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, from the traps of the workers of iniquity.
Proverbs 12:13An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.
Proverbs 13:14The teaching of the wise is a spring of life, to turn from the snares of death.
Proverbs 14:27The fear of Yahweh is a fountain of life, turning people from the snares of death.
Proverbs 18:7A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
Proverbs 20:25It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.
Proverbs 22:25lest you learn his ways, and ensnare your soul.
Proverbs 29:6An evil man is snared by his sin, but the righteous can sing and be glad.
Proverbs 29:25The fear of man proves to be a snare, but whoever puts his trust in Yahweh is kept safe.
Isaiah 8:14He will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel, he will be a stumbling stone and a rock that makes them fall. For the people of Jerusalem, he will be a trap and a snare.
Amos 3:5Can a bird fall in a trap on the earth, where no snare is set for him? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when there is nothing to catch?
Exodus 10:7Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve Yahweh, their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”
Exodus 23:33They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
Exodus 34:12Be careful, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be for a snare among you;
Deuteronomy 7:16You shall consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God shall deliver to you. Your eye shall not pity them. You shall not serve their gods; for that would be a snare to you.
Joshua 23:13know for a certainty that Yahweh your God will no longer drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, a scourge in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you.
Judges 2:3Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be in your sides, and their gods will be a snare to you.’ ”
Judges 8:27Gideon made an ephod out of it, and put it in Ophrah, his city. Then all Israel played the prostitute with it there; and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.
1 Samuel 18:21Saul said, I will give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David, “You shall today be my son-in-law a second time.”
2 Samuel 22:6The cords of Sheol were around me. The snares of death caught me.